Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in both foreign and independent films. Magnolia distributes some of its films, especially foreign and genre titles, under the Magnet Releasing arm. In April 2011, Cuban placed Magnolia up for sale, but stated that he would not sell the company unless the offer was "very, very compelling."[1]

1.
Film
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A film, also called a movie, motion picture, theatrical film or photoplay, is a series of still images which, when shown on a screen, creates the illusion of moving images due to the phi phenomenon. This optical illusion causes the audience to perceive continuous motion between separate objects viewed rapidly in succession, the process of filmmaking is both an art and an industry. The word cinema, short for cinematography, is used to refer to the industry of films. Films were originally recorded onto plastic film through a photochemical process, the adoption of CGI-based special effects led to the use of digital intermediates. Most contemporary films are now fully digital through the process of production, distribution. Films recorded in a form traditionally included an analogous optical soundtrack. It runs along a portion of the film exclusively reserved for it and is not projected, Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures. They reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them, Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment, and a powerful medium for educating—or indoctrinating—citizens. The visual basis of film gives it a power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions by using dubbing or subtitles to translate the dialog into the language of the viewer, some have criticized the film industrys glorification of violence and its potentially negative treatment of women. The individual images that make up a film are called frames, the perception of motion is due to a psychological effect called phi phenomenon. The name film originates from the fact that film has historically been the medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms exist for a motion picture, including picture, picture show, moving picture, photoplay. The most common term in the United States is movie, while in Europe film is preferred. Terms for the field, in general, include the big screen, the screen, the movies, and cinema. In early years, the sheet was sometimes used instead of screen. Preceding film in origin by thousands of years, early plays and dances had elements common to film, scripts, sets, costumes, production, direction, actors, audiences, storyboards, much terminology later used in film theory and criticism apply, such as mise en scène. Owing to the lack of any technology for doing so, the moving images, the magic lantern, probably created by Christiaan Huygens in the 1650s, could be used to project animation, which was achieved by various types of mechanical slides

2.
Dallas
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Dallas is a major city in the U. S. state of Texas. It is the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the citys population ranks ninth in the U. S. and third in Texas after Houston and San Antonio. The citys prominence arose from its importance as a center for the oil and cotton industries. The bulk of the city is in Dallas County, of which it is the county seat, however, sections of the city are located in Collin, Denton, Kaufman, and Rockwall counties. According to the 2010 United States Census, the city had a population of 1,197,816, the United States Census Bureaus estimate for the citys population increased to 1,300,092 as of July 1,2015. In 2016 DFW ascended to the one spot in the nation in year-over-year population growth. In 2014, the metropolitan economy surpassed Washington, D. C. to become the fifth largest in the U. S. with a 2014 real GDP over $504 billion, as such, the metropolitan areas economy is the 10th largest in the world. As of January 2017, the job count has increased to 3,558,200 jobs. The citys economy is based on banking, commerce, telecommunications, technology, energy, healthcare and medical research. The city is home to the third-largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the nation. Located in North Texas, Dallas is the core of the largest metropolitan area in the South. Dallas and nearby Fort Worth were developed due to the construction of railroad lines through the area allowing access to cotton, cattle. Later, France also claimed the area but never established much settlement, the area remained under Spanish rule until 1821, when Mexico declared independence from Spain, and the area was considered part of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas. In 1836, the Republic of Texas, with majority Anglo-American settlers, in 1839, Warren Angus Ferris surveyed the area around present-day Dallas. John Neely Bryan established a permanent settlement near the Trinity River named Dallas in 1841, the origin of the name is uncertain. The Republic of Texas was annexed by the United States in 1845, Dallas was formally incorporated as a city on February 2,1856. With construction of railroads, Dallas became a business and trading center and it became an industrial city, attracting workers from Texas, the South and the Midwest. The Praetorian Building of 15 stories, built in 1909, was the first skyscraper west of the Mississippi and it marked the prominence of Dallas as a city

3.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci

4.
New York City
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The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange

5.
2929 Entertainment
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2929 Entertainment is an American media group with holdings in film production and distribution, theatrical exhibition, home entertainment as well as network television and syndication. Billionaires Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban founded and currently own the privately held company, Wagner serves as its CEO, and Kevin Parke as its Executive Vice President. In February 2004,2929 owned the rights to several television shows including Sex and the City, Star Search. 2929 co-produced a newer version of Star Search which premiered in January 2003 on CBS, the original Star Search was on air between 1983 and 1988. The move was controversial since most films are released through different distribution channels on a staggered schedule, exhibitors were especially timorous, as many feared that they would eventually lose their exclusive release windows for more mainstream films. The company produces films and television programs through two production companies,2929 Productions and HDNet Films,2929 Productions, formerly run by Marc Butan, makes movies with budgets of $10-40 million. HDNet Films produces lower budget movies that are shot in high definition,2929 owns Magnolia Pictures, a film distribution company that places 2929s and other companys films in theaters. On September 24,2003,2929 bought Landmark Theatres, which owns 58 theatres in 23 markets, the chain, which was founded by Kim Jorgensen in 1974, primarily shows independent and foreign films. In November 2005 the company created Magnolia Home Entertainment to release its films over home video and it is run by Randy Wells, the former head of home entertainment for Miramax. 2929 holds a significant interest in AXS TV, which Cuban originally co-founded in 2001 as the all-high definition cable channel HDNet, HDNet Movies, a companion channel, shows movies in high definition. 2929 also owns and operates Rysher Entertainment, a syndication distributor

6.
Bleecker Street
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Bleecker Street is a west–east street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is most famous today as a Greenwich Village nightclub district, the street connects a neighborhood today popular for music venues and comedy, but which was once a major center for American bohemia. The street is named after the name of Anthony Lispenard Bleecker, a banker, the father of Anthony Bleecker. Bleecker Street connects Abingdon Square to the Bowery and East Village, Bleecker Street is named by and after the Bleecker family because the street ran through the farm of the family. In 1808, Anthony Lispenard Bleecker and his wife deeded to the city a portion of the land on which Bleecker Street sits. Originally Bleecker Street extended from Bowery to Broadway, along the side of the Bleecker farm. In 1829 it was joined with Herring Street, extending Bleecker Street northwest to Abingdon Square, LeRoy Place is the former name of a block of Bleecker Street between Mercer and Greene Streets. This was where the first palatial winged residences were built, the effect was accomplished by making the central houses taller and closer to the street, while the other houses on the side were set back. The central buildings also had bigger, raised entrances and lantern-like roof projections, the houses were built by Isaac A. Pearson, on both sides of Bleecker Street. To set his project apart from the rest of the area, Bleecker Street is served by the 46 <6> B D F M trains at Bleecker Street/Broadway – Lafayette Street station. The 12 trains serve the Christopher Street – Sheridan Square station one block north of Bleecker Street, traffic on the street is one-way, going southeast. In early December 2007, a lane was marked on the street. Bleecker Street is referenced in Stephen Kings The Dark Tower series, the Marc Jacobs store on Bleecker Street is mentioned in the novel Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Sykes as a hangout for emaciated young women. Nobel laureate Derek Walcott has written a poem about Bleecker Street entitled Bleecker Street, in Philip Roths novel The Human Stain, the character Coleman Silk takes the woman who would later be his wife to a Bleecker Street cafe early in their relationship. The main character of Warren Elliss novel Crooked Little Vein visits some freak bar on Bleecker Street, in Marvel Comics, 177A Bleecker Street is the location of Doctor Stranges Sanctum Sanctorum. Film and television Bleecker Street is in Nick & Norahs Infinite Playlist, Bleecker Street Cinema is mentioned in the movie Desperately Seeking Susan. 11th and Bleecker is mentioned in New Line Home Entertainments production of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, peter Parker tells Mary Jane that he saw her billboard advertisement on Bleecker in Spider-Man 2. Long-running television series Friends featured Bleecker Street signposts in several cut-scenes, much of the film No Reservations, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart, is set in a restaurant on the corner of Bleecker and Charles Streets

7.
Wendigo (film)
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Wendigo is a 2001 horror film by Larry Fessenden starring Patricia Clarkson and Jake Weber. George is a professional photographer who is starting to unravel from the stress of his work with a Manhattan advertising agency. George accidentally hits and severely injures a deer that ran onto the icy road. After George stops to inspect the damage, hes confronted by a local named Otis who flies into a rage, telling George that he. An argument breaks out, which leaves George feeling deeply shaken, when George and Kim arrive at their cabin, they discover that a dark and intimidating presence seems to have taken it over. The Wendigo also has powers and can change its appearance at will. The shopkeeper then gives him a small figurine of a Wendigo, shaken, Miles cant help but think the Wendigo has something to do with the dark forces at work in the woods near the cabin. Later that day, while sledding together, George suddenly falls to the ground, leaving Miles alone, frightened, Miles approaches his dad when he is chased by the wendigo and passes out. He is awakened later by a frightened Kim, who went looking for her once they didnt come home. Kim and Miles begin a trek deep into the forest, until they end up at the house, frantic, Kim and Miles put George in the car and drive to the nearest hospital. It is revealed that George and Miles were sledding near a shooting range, George undergoes emergency surgery and Miles walks into the hospital, hallucinates that his father is being assaulted by the Wendigo and faints. He awakens only to find that George has died, the movie ends with Otis being carted into the emergency room of the hospital, and being followed by the Indian shopkeeper while Miles watches it all, caressing the Wendigo figurine. Critical reception for the film has been mixed, roger Ebert gave the film 2 1/2 stars out of 4 stating, Wendigo is a good movie with an ending that doesnt work. While it was not working I felt a keen disappointment, because the rest of the works so well. The rampaging Wendigo may be a manifestation of Miless incipient Oedipal rage, such abstract notions may put off fans of the genre in its most elemental, slice- and-dice form. But for those in search of something different, Wendigo is a genuinely bone-chilling tale, felix Vasquez Jr. from Cinema Crazed. com gave the film a positive review praising the films ending and suspense. AllMovie called the film effectively creepy and surprisingly unsettling, despite its inherent cheesiness, Wendigo currently has a 58% rotten rating on movie review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on fifty reviews. The film was released on DVD by Live/Artisan on Dec 17,2002 and it was re-released by Cinema Club on Jun 16,2003

8.
Late Marriage
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Late Marriage is a 2001 Israeli film directed by Dover Kosashvili. The film centers on Zaza, the 31-year-old child of tradition-minded Georgian Jewish immigrants who are trying to arrange a marriage for him. Unbeknownst to them, he is dating a 34-year-old divorcée. When his parents discover the relationship and violently intervene, Zaza must choose between his family traditions and his love, most of the main characters are Georgian-Israeli and the dialogue is partly in the Judaeo-Georgian language and partly in Hebrew. The film was reviewed and was Israels submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 74th Academy Awards. Zaza is a 31-year-old Georgian-Israeli PhD student at Tel Aviv University whose family is trying to arrange a marriage for him within the Georgian community, the films beginning sees Zaza and his parents Yasha and Lili visiting the home of a possible match, who is still in high school. Zaza is clearly unenthusiastic and it is mentioned that he has dozens of prospective brides before this. After Judiths daughter Madona has gone to bed, Zaza goes to her apartment and they have sex, in an explicit, meanwhile, Zazas parents find that they have left their housekey in Zazas car and spend the night at the home of relatives Simon and Margalit. When Zaza doesnt answer repeated phone calls during the night, Yasha concludes that he is with Judith, apparently Yasha was aware of the relationship, Judith is unacceptable to Zazas parents because she is divorced, has a child, and is older than Zaza. A number of Zazas relatives stake out Judiths apartment building, planning to confront the couple, at one point Simon takes down a decorative sword hanging on Judiths wall and holds it to her throat. Zaza and Judith say little, and eventually Zaza unconvincingly tells Judith that the relationship is over, Zaza returns shortly after and attempts to resume the evening where it left off, but Judith quietly tells him that she doesnt want to see him again. Back at his apartment, Zaza has a confrontation with his parents. Some time later Zazas parents return to Judiths apartment building, when Judith comes home, Lili approaches her and gives Madona a teddy bear as a peace offering, while Yasha stays in the car. Inside the apartment, Lili asks Judith if she has seen Zaza, Judith initially says that she hasnt, but soon she tearfully admits that Zaza has been calling her and begging her to marry him. Judith has refused because Zazas reaction when his family invaded her apartment made her realize that he loves you more than me, back in the car, Yasha asks Lili if she will accept Judith as a wife for Zaza. Lili, now sympathetic toward Judith, tells him that they should wait. The next scene opens with Zaza and Yasha standing next to each other at urinals in a public restroom and it becomes clear that they are at Zazas wedding reception, and Zaza is drunk. Zaza returns to the hall and gives a long, awkward, repetitive speech

9.
Read My Lips (film)
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Read My Lips is a 2001 French film by Jacques Audiard, co-written with Tonino Benacquista. The film stars Vincent Cassel as Paul, an ex-con on parole, and Emmanuelle Devos as Carla, despite their different backgrounds and initial fear of each other, they end up intimately related and helping each other. The film is set partially in the offices and partially in the underworld of Paris. Carla, a lonely woman burdened by lack of respect from her co-workers and her friend, Annie. Carla is introduced immediately with a shot of her putting in her hearing aids, after she faints from exhaustion she accepts the bosss offer to hire an intern to lighten her load. The first applicant to be her assistant, Paul, is an ex-convict who is not technically qualified to be Carlas assistant, pauls affable nature and bad boy spirit relieve Carlas loneliness and open up new possibilities for her. She rebuffs his initial clumsy sexual advances, but gradually become a team, using creative. Paul convinces her to help him – by using her lip-reading skills – to rob Marchand, reluctant at first, Carla becomes more intrigued as problems arise. After Paul fails to find the money, Carla finds it in Marchands freezer, Marchand discovers the theft, thinks Paul stole the money, catches and beats him. Carla and Paul engineer his escape and the total success. As the movie ends, she instigates their making out for the first time in the car

10.
Teddy Bears' Picnic (film)
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Teddy Bears Picnic is a 2002 American comedy film written and directed by Harry Shearer. It was released in May 2002 to limited audiences, Shearer has a small role in the film. It is also Kenneth Mars last film before his death, Teddy Bears Picnic covers an annual encampment of prominent male leaders at the Zambezi Glen, a thinly-veiled reference to the Bohemian Grove. After that, the begin, including an all-male chorus line in drag. In this time we see what members do to enjoy themselves at the retreat, including drinking, urinating on trees while naked. After filming some of the activities at the glen, the cameraman is spotted by some members, from here, the members invoke their privilege and connections, with disastrous results. The members call in the military to track down the cameraman with dogs, flares, and helicopters, which sets off a forest fire. When the road out of the glen is blocked by a truck filled with drinks for the glen members, one of the characters orders his chauffeur to drive through anyway. A helicopter flying without lights at night at the behest of one of the members collides with a news helicopter covering the fire, Harry Shearer wrote, directed, and executive-directed the film. He hired old friends and colleagues and younger performers and he paid everyone low-budget scale, Shearer said. The film was shot in less than three weeks, at a cost of $800,000 and it just kind of flowed through me. The film was shot using video equipment. Cinematographer Jaime Reynoso shot the film, post-production work was done by Visionbox Pictures, the film was screened at the U. S. Comedy Arts Festival in February 2001, the USA Film Festival in April 2001 and it had a limited released to theaters in March 2002. The film currently has a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, on Metacritic, the film carries a 32/100 rating, indicating generally unfavorable reviews. Teddy Bears Picnic at the Internet Movie Database Teddy Bears Picnic at AllMovie Teddy Bears Picnic at Box Office Mojo Teddy Bears Picnic at Rotten Tomatoes Teddy Bears Picnic at Metacritic

11.
Interview with the Assassin
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Interview with the Assassin is a 2002 drama/pseudo-documentary starring Raymond J. Barry and Dylan Haggerty. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas on November 22,1963, a stunned Kobeleski learns that the conspiracy theory that says there was a second gunman on the grassy knoll is true — because he was that second gunman. To prove it, he shows Kobeleski a spent casing from the rifle he used, a skeptical Kobeleski demands proof, and follows Ohlinger as he attempts to prove his claims. He speaks to people who would seem to support Ohlingers claims, but others, most notably his ex-wife, point to Ohlinger being a fraud, the film ends with Walter Ohlingers failed attempt to assassinate the present-day president. Kobeleski later shoots Ohlinger in self-defense at his own home, Ron Kobeleski is arrested and charged as an accomplice in the assassination attempt, and sent to prison for 3 years. In a short interview with a reporter, he states that telling his side of the story wont help him at all, the closing credits state that Kobeleski was killed in prison. For the most part, Interview with the Assassin is filmed from the perspective of Ron Kobeleski, on a few occasions, the viewer actually sees Dylan Haggerty, the actor portraying him. Interview with the Assassin won three awards at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival, Best Experimental Film, Best Director, and Best Actor. Patrick Z. McGavin for the Chicago Tribune stated Interview With the Assassin is imbued with an air of danger that unfortunately dissipates in the final moments. Calling Barrys performance excellent, McGavin wrote, He has a presence and a sense of mystery and danger. The Washington Posts Ann Hornaday wrote that the movie was filmed in the mockumentary style familiar to fans of This Is Spinal Tap. In fact, the conceit is by now so hackneyed that even the most impeccable execution isnt enough to make it compelling. David Wrone, author of The Zapruder Film, Reframing JFKs Assassination, stated, The facts in Interview with the Assassin were so egregiously in error, assassinations in fiction Interview with the Assassin at the Internet Movie Database

12.
Bollywood/Hollywood
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Bollywood/Hollywood is a 2002 Canadian film by Indo-Canadian director Deepa Mehta. Its stars Rahul Khanna and Lisa Ray in leading roles, the film was lighthearted, humorous, and family-oriented, as opposed to Mehtas other films, which feature very serious themes and focus on social issues. The film pokes fun at traditional Indian stereotypes, as well as at Bollywood, Bollywood actor Akshaye Khanna makes a special guest appearance in the movie. Furthermore, the mother proclaims that the wedding of her daughter Twinky. The pressure mounts on Rahul as he finds out that Twinky must get married to preserve the familys reputation because she is pregnant, Rahul goes to a bar and there meets Sue. Thinking she is a Spanish escort, he hires her to pose as his fiancée, Rahul eventually discovers that Sue is actually Indian. Pleased, Mrs. Seth agrees to sanction Twinkys wedding, Rahul and Sue grow more intimate, later to share stories about their pasts. This mischief is not fully explained, but her liking for it is suggested by her audacity, Sue is quite immune to social norms, she speaks bluntly to all, particularly to Rocky, Rahuls driver, who she knows as a famous drag queen. The blossoming romance is shaken, however, when Rahul is told that Sue was not only an escort, Sue is so hurt that he would question her honesty and integrity that she leaves him. He is forced to confess to his family that he never really courted Sue and his mother is forced to withdraw her sponsorship of Twinkys wedding, due to her promise—but she need not, Twinkys wedding has already taken place, well before the planned date. Prodded by his understanding, Shakespeare-quoting grandmother, Rahul goes after Sue and professes his true opinion of her, Sue initially turns him down, only to be found later in the driver seat of his limo to show her acceptance of his proposal. Bollywood/Hollywood at the Internet Movie Database

13.
Capturing the Friedmans
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Capturing the Friedmans is a 2003 HBO documentary film directed by Andrew Jarecki. It focuses on the 1980s investigation of Arnold and Jesse Friedman for child molestation and it was nominated for the Academy Award for Documentary Feature in 2003. Some of the Friedmans victims and family members wrote to the Awards Committee protesting the nomination, Jarecki initially was making a short film, Just a Clown, which he completed, about childrens birthday party entertainers in New York, including the popular clown David Friedman. During his research, Jarecki learned that David Friedmans brother, Jesse, and his father, Arnold, had pleaded guilty to sexual abuse. Jarecki interviewed some of the involved and ended up making a film focusing on the Friedmans. The investigation into Arnold Friedmans life started after the U. S. Postal Service in 1987 intercepted a magazine of child pornography received from the Netherlands, in searching his Great Neck, New York home, investigators found a collection of child pornography. After learning that Friedman taught children computer classes from his home, during police interviews, some of the children Friedman taught reported experiencing bizarre sex games during their computer classes. Jarecki interviewed some of these children himself, some stated that they had been in the room with other children alleging abuse, the film portrayed police investigative procedures as the genesis of a witch-hunt in the Friedmans community. The Friedmans were allowed to stay at home in order to prepare for court, the videos were not made with publishing in mind, but as a way to record what was happening in their lives. The movie shows much of this footage, family dinners, conversations, arnolds wife, Elaine, quickly decided that her husband was indeed guilty and advised him to confess and protect their son, she soon divorced him. Arnold Friedman pleaded guilty to charges of sodomy and sexual abuse. According to the Friedman family, he confessed in the hopes that his son would be spared prison time, Jesse Friedman later confessed as well, but later claimed he did so to avoid being sent to prison for life. He said in mitigation that his father had molested him, according to Jesses lawyer Peter Panaro, who visited Arnold in a Wisconsin federal prison, Arnold admitted to molesting two boys, but not those who attended his computer classes. Jesse Friedman, in a subsequent statement, said that his father told him, Arnold Friedman committed suicide in prison in 1995, leaving a $250,000 life insurance benefit to Jesse. Jesse Friedman was released from New Yorks Clinton Correctional Facility in 2001 after serving 13 years of his sentence, currently, he is running an online book-selling business. The film was ranked as the 7th best-reviewed movie of 2003 on the websites best of the year list, the low-budget documentary was a success with audiences as well, grossing over $3 million in theaters and making it a surprise hit. Similarly, Roger Ebert wrote, The film is as a lesson about the elusiveness of facts. Sometimes guilt and innocence are discovered in court, but sometimes, we gather, the film won the Grand Jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival for 2003

14.
Control Room (film)
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Control Room is a 2004 documentary film about Al Jazeera and its relations with the US Central Command, as well as the other news organizations that covered the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Made by Egyptian-American filmmaker Jehane Noujaim, the film was distributed by Magnolia Pictures, people featured in the film include Lieutenant Josh Rushing, a press officer from US Central Command, David Shuster, an NBC correspondent, and Tom Mintier, a CNN correspondent. Samir Khader later became the editor of Al-Jazeera, Josh Rushing started working for Al Jazeera English in 2006, Shuster started working for Al Jazeera America in 2013. Control Room documents the spectrum of opinion that surrounds the Qatar television news network Al Jazeera, throughout the film, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld appears at press conferences, complaining about the propagandist nature of Al Jazeera. Paradoxically, another clip shows Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf, the Iraqi Minister of Information, the contrasting views between the documentarys central figures are not so clear cut. Abdallah Schleifer, an American reporter, counters that no such pictures exist and he has no doubt these atrocities occur. However, he explains that hearsay filtering down through CentCom is not convincing to skeptical Arab viewers, a crucial point in the documentary comes with Lt. Given the subject of film, pictures are so important because they transcend language. Unless there is concern that they have been contrived, they give information to all perspectives. This is what a producer for Al Jazeera claims was the motivation for showing dead American soldiers, as for objectivity, she discards it as a mirage. The film concludes that war is something that makes emotionless involvement impossible for any involved party, in an effort to rectify past mishandling of media personnel during wartime and to garner support for the Iraq war, the Pentagon introduced a new journalist embedding policy. The policy allowed media long-term, minimally restrictive access to U. S. air, ground and we need to tell the factual story-good or bad- before others seed the media with disinformation and distortions. One of the focuses of Control Room is on the alleged friendly fire attack against the Baghdad headquarters of Al Jazeera. Lots of doubt is expressed within as to such an explanation is viable. Claims that US troops were returning fire upon a sniper were greeted with incredulity by reporters on the ground, including Sky News reporter David Chater, and at Central Command in Qatar. On the same day, Abu Dhabi TV was also hit, charter also said that, Al Jazeera is the best Channel in the world. The aftermath of the attack saw a number of allegations, Al Jazeera claimed to have sent the Pentagon details of their staffs position via GPS co-ordinates, as did several other news networks. At the time, sources from the BBC noted with alarm that the Pentagon did not seem to pay heed to information they had been given by Al-Jazeera, Noujaim was initially only given permission to film for three days

15.
Cavale
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Cavale is a 2002 film directed by, written by, and starring Lucas Belvaux. This is the first installment of the Trilogy series and it constitutes a thriller, and is followed by Two, Un couple épatant, which is a comedy, and Three, Après la vie, which is a melodrama. Most of the film is silent and there are just as few lines as necessary. An accomplice in a mask, Jean-Jean, is waiting for him, he shoots the searchlights and they come across a police blockade but manage to escape through a hail of bullets. The next morning Bruno lies on the grass, Jean-Jean is dead, Bruno takes everything in the car and disguises himself. He heads to Grenoble, France, in the train but runs into the police at the station, he manages to escape. Francis wanders if Bruno shall be coming to their place but she is sure that he try to escape to Italy. Bruno forges identifications and arranges many looks for himself, steals a car, changes the licence plates and he calls Freddy to tell him that it was not a smart move. Jacquillat has made his office his refuge and sends his henchmen after Le Roux, while the Police investigate Freddys murder, Bruno gets a glimpse at Jacquillat but does not engage him, because he is talking to Manise. Bruno pays a visit to Madame Guiot, the mother of Jean-Jean and tells her that he is dead and he takes a lot of explosive materials from the apartment and guns and burns the apartment. This triggers the police to arrest Jeanne for questioning but she is loyal to him. Bruno frisks Banane and finds a photo of the woman who has just left, Bruno poses then as Yvan says that he wants to meet Jacquillat. Just as he is about to leave, the woman back with news that the police is all around the place. Once at the apartment she shoots up and falls asleep, just as he is about to leave, Agnès keels over and is about to die due to overdose, Bruno hesitates but finally saves her. He promises her to help her get more drugs and he tells her that his name is Pierre. Early in the morning Bruno goes to Bananes and learns that a meeting with Jacquillat has been set at 23,00, Agnès takes Pierre to a chalet in the mountains and promises him to get a car. In the chalet, while preparing for that evening, Bruno is confronted by Cécile the owner of the chalet and they tell her that he is Pierre an unemployed machinist and Agnès lover, after Cécile is more calm she offers to get him a job and leaves. Bruno goes to Jeannes but she is not there and he goes alone to the meeting which turns out to be an ambush, there is a shoot out, many are killed

16.
End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones
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End of the Century, The Story of the Ramones is a 2003 documentary film about highly influential New York punk rock band the Ramones. The title is taken from the Ramones 1980 album, End of the Century and it features comprehensive and candid interviews with members Dee Dee Ramone, Johnny Ramone, Joey Ramone, Marky Ramone, C. J. Ramone, Tommy Ramone, Richie Ramone, and Elvis Ramone. Others close to the band are interviewed, including Joeys mother and brother, contemporaries such as Debbie Harry and Joe Strummer. The filmmakers first attempted to make the film in 1994 to document the final year of the band on the road, fields and Gramaglia successfully restarted the production in 1998 after the band had officially retired. A rough cut of End of the Century premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in 2003, the final and completed version of the film didnt appear until February 2004 at the Berlin Film Festival and the film was released in the U. S. in August 2004. Even though the talk during the South American scenes is about Brazil, in the mob scene, the kids chase the Ramones car down Carlos Pellegrini street,100 meters north of the Obelisco landmark. The Argentine presenter is Mario Pergolini, an observant viewer noticed that at 1,06,20 mins -1,06,31 mins the 2 studio musicians for Phil Spector are reading off of cue cards. Spector, who had an out with the Ramones due to mistreating the group. End of the Century, The Story of the Ramones at the Internet Movie Database End of the Century, The Story of the Ramones at AllMovie Official website

17.
Charles Bukowski
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Henry Charles Bukowski was a German-born American poet, novelist, and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambience of his city of Los Angeles. His work addresses the ordinary lives of poor Americans, the act of writing, alcohol, relationships with women, Bukowski wrote thousands of poems, hundreds of short stories and six novels, eventually publishing over 60 books. The FBI kept a file on him as a result of his column, Notes of a Dirty Old Man, in 1986 Time called Bukowski a laureate of American lowlife. Regarding Bukowskis enduring popular appeal, Adam Kirsch of The New Yorker wrote and he combines the confessional poets promise of intimacy with the larger-than-life aplomb of a pulp-fiction hero. His paternal grandfather Leonard Bukowski, an ethnic German, had immigrated to America from the German Empire in the 1880s, in Cleveland, Leonard met Emilie Krause, also a German, who had emigrated from Danzig, Germany. They married and settled in Pasadena and he worked as a successful carpenter. The couple had four children, including Heinrich, Charles Bukowskis father, Katharina Bukowski was the daughter of Wilhelm Fett and Nannette Israel. Bukowskis parents met in Andernach in Germany following World War I, the poets father was German-American and a sergeant in the United States Army serving in Germany following Germanys defeat in 1918. He had an affair with Katharina, a German friends sister, Charles Bukowski repeatedly claimed to be born out of wedlock, but Andernach marital records indicate that his parents married one month before his birth. Afterwards, Henry Bukowski became a contractor, set to make great financial gains in the aftermath of the war. On April 23rd,1923, they sailed from Bremerhaven to Baltimore, Maryland, the family moved to South Central Los Angeles in 1930, the city where Charles Bukowskis father and grandfather had previously worked and lived. Young Charles spoke English with a strong German accent and was taunted by his childhood playmates with the epithet Heini, meaning German, in the 1930s the poets father was often unemployed. During his youth, Bukowski was shy and socially withdrawn, a condition exacerbated during his teen years by a case of acne. Neighborhood children ridiculed his German accent and the clothing his parents made him wear, in Bukowski -- Born Into This, a 2003 film, Bukowski states that his father beat him with a razor strop three times a week from the ages of six to eleven years. He says that it helped his writing, as he came to understand undeserved pain, the depression bolstered his rage as he grew, and gave him much of his voice and material for his writings. In his early teen years, Bukowski had an epiphany when he was introduced to alcohol by his loyal friend William Baldy Mullinax, depicted as Eli LaCrosse in Ham on Rye, son of an alcoholic surgeon. This is going to help me for a long time, he later wrote

18.
Voices of Iraq
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Voices of Iraq is a 2004 documentary film about Iraq, created by distributing cameras to the subjects of a film, thus enabling subjects to film themselves. To preserve its innovative filmmaking, Voices of Iraq was added to the permanent collection of Motion Picture Academy of Arts, producer Eric Manes explained, Without Iraqis as the directors, we would have seen Iraq and its people only through the filter of Western eyes. We certainly would not have had the access or the intimacy that was captured in the film. Euphrates, an Iraqi Anglo hip-hop group, scored the soundtrack, the film was released theatrically in the United States and internationally and created a new genre of filmmaking. Movie Maker Magazine asked the producers, Voices of Iraq is truly a groundbreaking film—both in terms of its content, what was your main mission in creating this film. Eric Manes responded, Our goal was simply to give the Iraqi people a voice, for years we had heard only the American media’s version of what Iraq and its people were like. We decided that since Iraq was such an issue in the U. S. it was time to hear their story first-hand. Iraqis are a diverse group of people who have been silenced for over 24 years, living in fear of Saddam Hussein. We realized we could finally give Iraqis a venue to share their lives, hopes. When questioned on the budget, Martin Kunert said, We used single chip, GR-D30U JVC cameras. Our budget came out to around $500,000, with inexpensive cameras and editing stations, the greatest expense was our post-production staff, translators and assistant editors. Second to that, the 35 mm blow-up, the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, Voices of Iraq is a must-see for anyone still coming to terms with the chaos in Iraq. Hollywood Reporter, Perhaps the sharpest commentary on years of suffering, hope, the Wall Street Journal, At a time when shrill political diatribes dominate the documentary scene, along comes an authentic work that dares to let the subject speak for itself – literally. Dallas Morning News, An extraordinary, up-to-the-minute tapestry that ranges all over country of 25 million people. The Washington Times, Voices of Iraq is neither partisan nor conservative in any sense of the word. The New York Times, If this film cannot claim to represent the truth about the war - what film could. The Village Voice, any film that credits itself as filmed and directed by the people of Iraq deserves to be regarded with skepticism, detroit Free Press, a revealing documentary that depicts the day-to-day hopes and grief of people. Mothers talk about sons gone missing, interviews are interrupted by bomb explosions

19.
Woman Thou Art Loosed
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Woman Thou Art Loosed is a 2004 American drama film directed by Michael Schultz and written by Stan Foster. It was produced by Stan Foster and Reuben Cannon and it is the 44th film or series directed by Schultz and is adapted from the self-help novel by T. D. Jakes. The film tells the story of a woman who must come to terms with a long history of sexual abuse, drug addiction. It has been reported that the story was based on the screenwriters past relationship with a college girlfriend. A gospel stage play preceded the film, kimberly Elise as Michelle Jordan Loretta Devine as Cassey Jordan Debbie Morgan as Twana Michael Boatman as Todd Clifton Powell as Reggie Idalis DeLeon as Nicole T. D. Woman Thou Art Loosed was also awarded at the American Black Film Festival for Best Film, a sequel, titled Woman Thou Art Loosed, On the 7th Day, was released on April 13,2012. Woman Thou Art Loosed at the Internet Movie Database Woman Thou Art Loosed at Rotten Tomatoes Magnolia Films

20.
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
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McLean and Elkind are credited as writers of the film alongside the director, Alex Gibney. The film features interviews with McLean and Elkind, as well as former Enron executives and employees, stock analysts, reporters, the film won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature and was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 78th Academy Awards in 2006. The film begins with a profile of Kenneth Lay, who founded Enron in 1985, two years after its founding, the company becomes embroiled in scandal after two traders begin betting on the oil markets, resulting in suspiciously consistent profits. One of the traders, Louis Borget, is discovered to be diverting company money to offshore accounts. After auditors uncover their schemes, Lay encourages them to making us millions. After these facts are brought to light, Lay denies having any knowledge of wrongdoing and this gives Enron the ability to subjectively give the appearance of being a profitable company even if it isnt. This creates a competitive and brutal working environment. Skilling hires lieutenants who enforce his directives inside Enron, known as the guys with spikes and they include J. Pai abruptly resigns from EES with $250 million, soon after selling his stock. Despite the amount of money Pai has made, the divisions he formerly ran lost $1 billion, Pai uses his money to buy a large ranch in Colorado, becoming the second-largest landowner in the state. With its success in the market brought on by the dot-com bubble. Executives push up their prices and then cash in their multimillion-dollar options. Enron also mounts a PR campaign to portray itself a profitable, prosperous and innovative company, elsewhere, Enron begins ambitious initiatives such as attempts to use broadband technology to deliver movies on demand, and trade weather like a commodity, both initiatives fail. However, using mark-to-market accounting, Enron records non-existent profits for these ventures, CFO Andrew Fastow creates a network of shell companies designed solely to do business with Enron, for the ostensible dual purposes of sending Enron money and hiding its increasing debt. Fastow also takes advantage of the greed of Wall Street investment banks, however, Fastow has a vested financial stake in these ventures, using them to defraud Enron of tens of millions of dollars in business deals that Fastow effectively conducts with himself. All of this done with the permission of Enrons accounting firm Arthur Andersen, most of these deals were leveraged with Enron stock, meaning that a significant decline in Enrons stock price could cause Fastows network of shell companies to fall apart. During this time, Enrons executives encourage the companys employees to invest their savings, however, Jim Chanos, an Enron investor, and Bethany McLean, a Fortune reporter, question irregularities about the companys financial statements and stock value. Skilling responds by calling McLean unethical, and accusing Fortune of publishing her reporting to counteract a positive BusinessWeek piece on Enron, three Enron executives meet with McLean and her Fortune editor to explain the companys finances. While the Bush administration refuses to intervene, which the film suggests could have been a result of Enrons influence, bushs connections to Ken Lay come under scrutiny by the press, which intensifies after Enrons collapse

21.
Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior
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Ong-Bak, Muay Thai Warrior, also known in the United States as Ong-Bak, The Thai Warrior is a 2003 Thai martial arts action film. It was directed by Prachya Pinkaew, featured stunt choreography by Panna Rittikrai, Ong-Bak proved to be Jaas breakout film, with the actor hailed internationally as the next major martial arts star. Jaa went on to star in Tom-Yum-Goong and directed two prequels to Ong-Bak, Ong-Bak 2 and Ong-Bak 3, in the rural northeastern Thailand village of Ban Nong Pradu lies an ancient Buddha statue named Ong-Bak. The village falls in despair after thieves from Bangkok decapitate the statue, Ting, a villager extremely skilled in Muay Thai, volunteers to travel to Bangkok to recover the stolen head of Ong-Bak. His only lead is Don, a dealer who attempted to buy the statue one day earlier. Upon arriving in Bangkok with a bagful of money donated by his village, Ting meets up with his cousin Humlae, Humlae and his friend Muay Lek are street-bike racing hustlers who make a living out of conning yaba dealers. Reluctant to help Ting, Humlae steals Tings money and bets all of it in a fighting tournament at a bar on Khaosan Road. Ting tracks down Humlae and gets his money back after stunning the crowd by knocking out the champion in the ring with one kick and his extraordinary skill grabs the attention of Komtuan, a gray-haired, wheelchair-bound crime lord who needs an electrolarynx to speak. It is discovered that Don had stolen Ong-Baks head to sell to Komtuan, the next day, Humlae and Muay Lek are chased all over town by drug dealer Peng and his gang after a botched baccarat game scam at an illegal casino. Ting fights off most of the thugs and helps Humlae and Muay Lek escape in exchange for helping him find Don and they return to the bar, where Ting wins the respect of the crowd after defeating three opponents consecutively. The trio find Dons hideout, triggering a lengthy tuk-tuk chase, the chase ends at a port in Chao Phraya River, where Ting discovers Komtuans cache of stolen Buddha statues submerged underwater. Ting is forced to throw the match against the drug-enhanced Saming, after the fight, Komtuan reneges on his promise to release Muay Lek and return Ong-Bak, and he orders his henchmen to kill the trio. Ting and Humlae subdue the thugs and head for a mountain cave, Ting defeats the remaining thugs and Saming, but is shot by Komtuan. Before the crime lord attempts to destroy the Ong-Bak head with a sledgehammer, Humlae jumps to protect it, the giant Buddha statue head suddenly falls, crushing Komtuan to death and critically injuring Humlae. Humlae gives Ting the Ong-Bak head, and with his breath, asks him to look after Muay Lek. The head of Ong-Bak is restored in Ban Nong Pradu, Ting, now ordained as a monk, arrives into the village in a procession on an elephants back while the villagers and Muay Lek celebrate his ordination. The fights were choreographed by Panna Rittikrai, who is also Tony Jaas mentor, Jaa, trained in Muay Thai since childhood, wanted to bring Muay Thai to the mainstream, so he decided to make this movie. Jaa and Panna struggled to raise money to produce a reel to drum up interest for the making of the film

22.
The War Within (film)
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The War Within is a 2005 American drama film directed by Joseph Castelo and written by Ayad Akhtar, Castelo, and Tom Glynn. Distributed by HDNet Films and released by Magnolia Pictures, the film stars Ayad Akhtar, Firdous Bamji, Nandana Sen, the War Within premiered at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival. The War Within is the story of Hassan, a Pakistani engineering student in Paris, after his interrogation, Hassan undergoes a radical transformation and embarks upon a terrorist mission, surreptitiously entering the United States to join a cell based in New York City. After they have planned an event of maximum devastation, the members of the cell are arrested, except for Hassan, Khalid. With no alternative and nowhere else to turn, Hassan must rely on the hospitality of his former best friend Sayeed, to go forward and carry out his own attack, Hassan takes advantage of Sayeeds generosity while plotting his strategy and amassing materials to create explosives. When Izzy is arrested, Khalid and Hassan decide to use the explosives in an attack on Grand Central Station. Duri discovers Hassan mixing the explosives in her brothers house, when Sayeed tries to stop him, Hassan knocks him out and runs away. Duri follows Hassan to stop the attack, at the last minute, Khalid loses his nerve and Hassan goes to the target alone. Duri arrives at Grand Central Station just before Hassan detonates his explosive belt, after the attack, Sayeed is held by the police, who believe that he helped Hassan. Castelo came up with the idea for the film after reading an article about a Palestinian suicide bomber and they approached both Miramax Films and Fine Line Features to finance the film, but both companies refused, citing the subject matter as too controversial for American audiences. The film was shot on location in New York City and Jersey City, sameer Bajar and Afia Nathaniel provided the Urdu dialogues for the film. The War Within received mainly positive reviews from critics and it has an aggregate rating of 72% on Rotten Tomatoes and 61 out of 100 on Metacritic. The DVD for The War Within was released on January 17,2006 and it features commentary by Joseph Castelo and Ayad Akhtar,8 deleted scenes and an alternate beginning

23.
Keane (film)
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Keane is a 2004 American drama film written and directed by Lodge Kerrigan. After spending the night wandering the streets and sleeping along the side of the highway, he returns to the hotel where he is living. The desk clerk tells him his payment is in arrears, and he goes to a nightclub and snorts coke with a woman named Michelle, then has sex in a bathroom stall with her. Back at his motel, Keane meets Lynn Bedik and her daughter Kira, Lynn clearly is having financial difficulties, and he insists she take the $100 he offers her. She asks Keane to watch Kira for a few hours, then calls the motel, Keane reassures a despondent Kira, who fears Lynn has abandoned her, that her mother loves her and will be back. The following day, Keane takes Kira to an indoor skating rink. While they are playing skee ball in the adjacent arcade, Keane believes he is being watched by another patron, Kira manages to calm him and they return to the motel. When Lynn arrives later, she explains she was with Kiras father Eric, who has arranged for them to move to Albany, New York, there he sends her to buy candies, as his daughter had done several months earlier, just minutes before she was abducted. He cries for his losses and decides to really get her to her mother, Kira tells him she loves him and he says he loves her too. I realized, how in just four minutes, four minutes and your life could be changed forever and there would be no way to recover from it. I knew that kind of visceral feeling would be a starting point. The result was In Gods Hands, produced by Steven Soderbergh and starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard, the film never was released due to irreversible negative damage. With nothing left of his film to salvage, Kerrigan began researching and writing a new project that became Keane and it was exhilarating, working with that kind of energy. I also wrote a lot of the film there as well, I would go and play out a scene and try to act it out. To some degree try to find the emotions, by recreating, beat by beat, his mindset and it all goes back to location. When you are working in the area, you can answer all of the questions that would arise with much more immediacy. The film was shot with a camera with single takes lasting up to four minutes with no cutaways. It contains long periods of little or no dialogue and has no musical score

24.
Nine Lives (2005 film)
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Nine Lives is a 2005 American drama film written and directed by Rodrigo García. The screenplay, an example of cinema, relates nine short. Their themes include parent-child relationships, fractured love, adultery, illness, imprisoned Sandra has an emotional breakdown when the broken telephone in her cubicle prevents her from communicating with her daughter on visiting day. Diana and Damian, two former flames now married to others, unexpectedly have a poignant reunion in the aisle of the local supermarket, holly returns home to confront her sexually abusive stepfather and dissolves into gun-waving hysteria. Feuding married couple Sonia and Martin have an emotional meltdown while visiting their friends Lisa, teenaged Samantha is torn between her non-communicative parents Ruth, and Larry, each of whom questions her about everything the other one has to say. Divorcée Lorna must cope with her ex-husband Andrews sexual desire for her during his wifes funeral. Ruth, primary caretaker for her husband, becomes increasingly guilt-ridden during a tryst with drunken widower Henry in a hotel. Camille is facing breast cancer surgery and uses her time to lash out at her quietly supportive husband Richard. Maggie discusses life with her daughter Maria during a picnic in the cemetery and it opened on seven screens and earned $28,387 in its opening weekend. It eventually grossed $478,830 in the US and $1,084,093 in foreign markets for a worldwide box office of $1,562,923. The films reward for intense concentration is a feeling of deep empathy, for once, you dont harbor the uneasy suspicion of having been emotionally manipulated. Mr. García has made a film that could be described as radically realistic, in its subtle, understated performances, the actors vanish into characters who behave like ordinary people observed through one-way glass. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said, Rodrigo Garcia, a movie like this, with the appearance of new characters and situations, focuses us, we watch more intently, because it is important what happens. He added, stories might seem the stuff of soap opera, the peculiar overall structure makes them distinctive as well, the way these little semi-Chekhovian, semi-Andre Dubus pieces play out against each other. Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called it that rare film that actually accrues a cumulative power. By the time its over it has become a testament to the resilience of women in coping with a critical moment in their lives. Each segment seems perfectly shaped and timed, not lasting a second too long yet always of sufficient length to be satisfying in itself, garcías large ensemble cast is impeccable, and he and his actors have created a film as memorable as it is subtle. Nine Lives is a sophisticated, elegant-looking film shot in distinctive, wide-ranging L. A. locales, list of American films of 2005 Nine Lives at the Internet Movie Database Nine Lives at Rotten Tomatoes Nine Lives at AllMovie Nine Lives at Metacritic

25.
Pulse (2001 film)
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Pulse is a 2001 Japanese horror film directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, the movie was well-received critically and has a cult following. An American remake, also titled Pulse, debuted in 2006, the script was also adapted into a novel of the same name by Kurosawa himself. The plot centers on ghosts invading the world of the living via the Internet and it features two parallel story lines. Kudo Michi, an employee at a plant shop, has moved to Tokyo. Her co-workers include Sasano Junko, Toshio Yabe and Taguchi, who has been missing for some working on a computer disk. Michi goes to visit Taguchis apartment and finds him distracted and aloof, in the middle of their conversation, he makes a noose, leaves. Michi and her friends inspect the disk he left behind and discover it contains an image of Taguchi staring at his own computer monitor, in the other monitor on his desk, they discover a ghostly face staring out into Taguchis room. Yabe receives a phone call of a distorted voice repeatedly saying. Upon checking his phone, Yabe sees the image found on Taguchis disk. He goes to Taguchis apartment and sees a black stain on the wall where he hanged himself, before finding a crumpled piece of printer paper bearing the words. Upon leaving, he notices a door sealed up with red tape and enters, Yabe becomes depressed and uncommunicative, and eventually begins hiding in a storage room. He tells Michi that he had seen something horrible in the forbidden room, on her way home, Michi sees a woman hurriedly sealing a door with red tape. Michi later witnesses the woman jump to her death from a silo at a cement factory, Michi receives a call like the one Yabe had received, prompting her to check on him in the storage room. Upon entering, she sees a black stain on the similar to the one in Taguchis apartment. Michi leaves to find Junko and panics when she realizes Junko has unsealed and entered a red-taped door, inside, Michi witnesses Junko being cornered by a ghost. Michi rescues Junko, who becomes catatonic as a result of the encounter, later, Michi is asked by Junko if she will die this way, to which Michi assures her she would not prompt her to reply that she would just keep living all alone. Upon saying this, Junko steps towards the wall and becomes a black stain, Michi calls her mother for solace, but gets no reply

26.
The Lost City (2005 film)
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The Lost City is a 2005 American drama film directed by Andy García. It stars Garcia, Dustin Hoffman, Inés Sastre, and Bill Murray, Fico Fellove is the owner of El Tropico, a swank nightclub in late 1950s. Fico lives for his family and his music, but the realities of a dictatorial regime threaten to destroy both. When Ricardo is arrested for activities and threatened with execution, Fico calls upon an old prep school friend, now a police captain. Due to the intercession of Captain Castel, Ricardo is released from jail, although Fico suggests that Ricardo should go to Miami or New York City for a while, Ricardo refuses and instead joins a communist rebel band headed by Che Guevara. In addition to political intrigue, Fico is also approached by Meyer Lansky, a member of New Yorks Genovese crime family. Fico, however, intends for his club to remain a place of music, when a bomb later explodes at the club, killing the club’s star entertainer, Fico assumes that Lansky is behind it. However, in the increasingly unsettled climate, he cannot be certain, luis meanwhile becomes connected with the plot to seize the presidential palace, kill Batista, and restore democracy to Cuba. The plot fails and most of the attackers are killed, luis escapes but is killed later by Batista’s secret police. At the urging of his mother, Fico tries to cheer up Luis’ distraught widow Aurora, Fico and Aurora begin a relationship and fall in love, but events intervene, the Communists seize the power after Batista flees the country. Fidel Castro declares there will be no elections and Che Guevara oversees the arrests, among those arrested is Captain Castel. Fico seeks out his brother Ricardo, now an officer in the new regime. Despite Castels having saved his life, Ricardo does nothing to prevent Castel’s execution, Ricardo, who had otherwise distanced himself from his family, later visits his uncle Donoso, a tobacco farmer and cigar maker. Donoso feels that while Castro may be in power now, “the land endures”, Ricardo, however, announces that the reason for his visit is to appropriate the farm for the state. In a fit of anger, Donoso has a heart attack, Ricardo, overcome by grief, attends the funeral and shortly after commits suicide. The revolution also has its effects on Fico’s club, the musician’s union, now controlled by Castro, has declared the saxophone to be an imperialist instrument and forbids its use. The club is shut down on a flimsy pretext. After a chance meeting with Castro, Aurora is declared Revolutionary Widow of the Year and this causes Fico and Aurora to break apart

27.
Somersault (film)
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Somersault is a 2004 Australian independent film written and directed by Cate Shortland, featuring Abbie Cornish and Sam Worthington. Shot in the winter of 2003, the film was released in September 2004 and it also swept the field at the 2004 Australian Film Institute Awards, winning every single feature film award. Exploring the themes of sexuality and emotion, Somersault is about a 16-year-old girl named Heidi who flees her Canberra home to the mountain town of Jindabyne in New South Wales. There she meets Joe, the son of a local farmer and he also seems to be unsure of his sexual orientation, despite having better than average luck meeting girls. The soundtrack is written and performed by Australian band Decoder Ring—their song Somersault plays during the end credits, some scenes were shot at the Ryrie homestead at Michelago, New South Wales. Heidis attractive appearance and vulnerability lead her into various situations and escapades in the small town and she meets a stranger at a bar and has sex with him. In the morning, he informs her of his plans to travel to Sydney and his friend informs her that he already has a girlfriend and the idea of Heidi travelling with him is dismissed as a result of this. She strikes up a friendship with Irene, a woman who runs a motel in the town. Irene, realising Heidi has very little experience and no permanent roots in the town. In order to pay the rent, Heidi must find a job, one of Heidis co-workers is Bianca and the two become friends after Bianca offers her a lift home one evening. While in town, Heidi eventually meets Joe, a confused young man who is having trouble with his sexuality. Joe is the son of a local farmer who finds comfort in her presence. However, Joes insecurities towardshis sexual orientation lead to a turbulent relationship between the two, staying with Joes parents is Richard, a gay man. Although the two share passion, Joe and Heidis dysfunctional personalities sometimes lead to a disconnect between one another, one night, Joe takes Heidi to a Chinese restaurant, and she asks Joe if he loves her. When he refuses to answer, she swallows a small bowl of chilli and he drags her to the bathroom to expel the chilli and takes her back to the motel. While trying to express and reciprocate feelings towards Heidi, Joe kisses Richard, the following morning, Joes cold and distant father fails to comfort Joe, who is both drunk and emotionally distressed. Eventually, he goes to visit Heidi, who has brought two men from a club she visited and proceeded to have sex with them when they are interrupted by Joe. Heidi tells him that he shouldnt leave without calling her and says that her having sex with the men is the result of his actions, Joe punches one of the men after they make fun of him and leaves Heidi, much to her despair

28.
S&Man
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S&Man is a 2006 pseudo-documentary film that examines the underground subculture of horror films. The film discusses why some people enjoy underground horror films involving fetishes, although the film is classified as a documentary, there is a fictional subplot which helps advance the films theme by showing what some people really think about the genre. S&Man was shown at the reRun Gastropub Theater in New York City, film festivals, the film has received praise and criticism, although some reviews are strongly against the nature of the film, most reviews were positive. S&Man is about voyeurism as it relates to underground films, interviews with horror film directors and Carol J. Clover, a writer on the horror genre, are weaved between clips from horror films. In the beginning of the film, clips show the directors and Clover commenting on a film that is not shown onscreen. The film then moves on to Pettys meetings with Eric Rost, Bill Zebub and he interviews these men and actress Debbie D. while clips from horror films and facts and opinions provided by Clover about the genre are interspersed. The film has a subplot, which questions whether or not Rosts works are actual snuff films. Pettys real life friendship with Marcisak takes a turn in the film. At this point, Petty is a performer in his own film, during filming, Petty begins to suspect that Rosts work, in which women are bound, gagged, tortured, and eventually butchered shows actual snuff. As Petty gets further into his investigation, Rosts answers become more evasive and it is not clear at the films end whether Rosts films are actual snuff in the fictional subplots context. However, it is known that he spies on them for a period of time before asking them to participate. Some context is added about sexual deviancy and about the role of gender in horror films, to demonstrate the motivations of people involved with these types of films, Petty shows gory clips that Nick Schager of The Village Voice described as repulsive and absorbing. Opinions from experts in the say that horror films are both sadistic and masochistic while discussing paraphilias, they state that most voyeurs may seem creepy. J. T. Petty is a director, producer, editor. His films include Soft for Digging and he wrote the books Clemency Pogue, Fairy Killer, Bill Zebub, one of the interviewees in the film, is the director of low-budget fetish exploitation films such as Jesus Christ, Serial Rapist. He has directed films and acted in two. Bill Zebub is shown saying, I dont shoot movies to make art, Fred Vogel, another interviewee, is the head of Toetag Pictures. He began his career as an effects artist and later directed August Underground

29.
Sione's Wedding
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Siones Wedding, is a 2006 New Zealand comedic film directed by Chris Graham and written by James Griffin and Oscar Kightley, and produced by South Pacific Pictures. After four particular incidents, the minister of their Samoan church rules that the four are to be banned from the wedding of Michaels brother. This is hard news for the boys, especially since Michael was supposed to be the best man and he proposes to the minister that being with a girl at the wedding would force the men to be on their best behaviour. The minister allows them to go but requires that the boys must have a relationship with their dates or Eugene will forcibly block them. While the boys think its an easy plan, they realise that finding a girlfriend isnt as easy as it looks. The film was written by James Griffin and Oscar Kightley and may deal with the subject of death and this movie is also well known for a high profile court case over breach of copyright law. An employee of a post production company was guilty and sentenced to 300 hours community service. Movie producer John Barnett estimates the movie lost $500,000 in lost box office takings, official film site Siones Wedding trailer on NZ On Screen Siones Wedding at the Internet Movie Database Siones Wedding at AllMovie

30.
Dead Man's Shoes (2004 film)
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Dead Mans Shoes is a 2004 British psychological thriller film written and directed by Shane Meadows, and co-written by Paddy Considine, who also starred in the lead role. The film co-stars Toby Kebbell, Gary Stretch and Stuart Wolfenden, the film was released in the United Kingdom on 1 October 2004. The film was shot in three weeks in the summer of 2003, the story details the return of Richard to his home town of Matlock, Derbyshire in the Peak District, England, after serving as a paratrooper in the British Army. Richard and his younger, mentally-impaired brother Anthony, camp at a farm near the town. Flashbacks reveal Anthonys abuse by a group of dealers in the town. Richard has a confrontation with Herbie, one of the abusers. Later, Herbie and friends Soz and Tuff are in a flat taking drugs and he tells them about the confrontation, and states he thinks the man might be Anthonys brother, who has been away serving in the army. When Herbie leaves he sees a man in a gas mask banging on the front door of the block. Soz and Tuff run outside but the man is nowhere to be seen, the next day the thugs visit Sonny, the de facto leader of the gang, to explain where the drugs went. When they meet, Sonny has had his face painted but doesnt realise, the other gang members arrive during this time and they have had their hair and clothes painted as well. They all suspect one another of playing games until Herbie states that the man he saw in the hall is Richard. All of the gang become silent as they realise that Richard is back in town, the men encounter Richard while driving in their Citroën 2CV. He makes it clear that he is not scared of any of them and invites them to come, the gang leaves with Sonny visibly concerned at Richards apparent lack of fear. That evening, Richard sneaks into a house where the gang are hiding out and he brutally kills one of the members with an axe, using the dead mans blood to smear the words One Down on the wall. Sonny decides that they should shoot Richard, the next morning, they take their car and go to the farm where Richard is staying with Anthony. Sending in Big Al to draw Richard out, Sonny prepares to him with a rifle. However, he misses and kills Al, with no rounds remaining in the rifle they retreat and return to town, while Richard smiles. The surviving members stop at a petrol station where the car breaks down and Tuff runs off

31.
District 13
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District 13, is a 2004 French action film directed by Pierre Morel and written and produced by Luc Besson. The film is notable for its depiction of parkour in a number of stunt sequences that were completed without the use of wires or computer generated effects, because of this, some film critics have drawn comparisons to the popular Thai film Ong-Bak. David Belle, regarded as the founder of parkour, plays Leïto, in 2010, social problems have overrun the poorer suburbs of Paris, especially Banlieue 13, commonly referred to as B13, a ghetto with a population of some two million. Police checkpoints stop anybody going in or out, three years later, the district has become overrun with gangs. Leïto is a fighter of such gangs, the beginning of the film depicts Leïto washing a case full of drugs down the drain, then escaping the gang who has come to collect the drugs. Damien, posing as a prisoner, must infiltrate the district and disarm the bomb, Leïto immediately sees through Damiens cover, but the two reluctantly team up to save Leïtos sister as well. The pair surrenders to Taha in order to access to his base. Taha demands a ransom to deactivate the bomb, the government refuses. Leïto and Damien escape, while Taha is killed by his own men when they realize he will be unable to pay them, the much more benevolent K2 takes over and allows Leïto and Damien to stop the bomb. After Leïto and Damien fight, Lola is able to restrain Damien long enough for the timer on the bomb to run out, the bomb does not explode, proving Leïto right. Soon the rest of the government promises to tear down the containment wall and bring back schools, Leïto and Damien depart as friends, and Lola kisses Damien to encourage him to visit B13 in the future. It holds a rating of 80% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 110 reviews. In France however, the film received negative reviews from both spectators and press, holding on Allociné, a French cinema website, a 2.8 out of 5. The main issues pointed by the French critics were the similarity with both Escape from New York and Ong Bak, and the shallowness of the plot, lisa Nesselson of Variety called it fast, dumb fun. Filming of a sequel, originally titled Banlieue 14, began in August 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia, David Belle and Cyril Raffaelli both reprised their original roles of Leito and Damien, respectively. The film with Luc Besson again producing and writing the screenplay, the title for the sequel was officially changed to District 13, Ultimatum in the post-production stages. It was released in France on February 18,2009, an English-language remake of the film, set in Detroit, was titled Brick Mansions, began pre-production in 2010 by EuropaCorp. It was released in April 2014, and stars Paul Walker as Damien, with David Belle reprising his role from the original, Brick Mansions is also the last movie that Walker finished before his death in November 2013

32.
Cocaine Cowboys
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Cocaine Cowboys is a 2006 documentary film directed by Billy Corben, and produced by Alfred Spellman and Billy Corben through their Miami-based media studio Rakontur. The film explores the rise of cocaine and the Miami Drug War, the producers of Cocaine Cowboys use interviews with law enforcers, journalists, lawyers, former drug smugglers, and gang members to provide a first-hand perspective of the Miami drug war. The film reveals that in the 1960s and early 1970s, marijuana was the primary import drug into the region, Drug importers reveal several of the different methods used to import the drug into Florida. The primary methods of transport were aircraft or boats, the drug importers also reveal the complexity of their importation methods. The distribution networks were also highly elaborate, and many people were involved locally and nationally in the consumption of the imported cocaine, importers reveal that condominiums were purchased near particular ocean waterways to provide a monitoring post for U. S. The film reveals that much of the growth which took place in Miami during this period was a benefit of the drug trade. As members of the trade made immense amounts of money. Consequently, drug money indirectly financed the construction of many of the modern buildings in southern Florida. Later, when law enforcement pressure drove many major players out of the picture, also documented in the film is the gangland violence associated with the trade. The interviewees in the film argue that Griselda Blanco, a crime family matriarch, played a major role in the history of the drug trade in Miami. It was the lawless and corrupt atmosphere, primarily from Blancos operations, the film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2006, and distribution rights to the film in English speaking territories were licensed to Magnolia Pictures. The film opened in U. S. theaters with a release on October 27,2006. Czech-American musician Jan Hammer of Miami Vice fame composed and performed the original score. The film began appearing on Showtime on December 7,2007, a revised and extended version of the film, titled Cocaine Cowboys, Reloaded, was released on DVD in April 2014 and is available on Netflix streaming. Cocaine Cowboys 2 Mariel boatlift Barry Seal War on drugs Catsoulis, kelly, James, Diederich, Bernard & McWhirter, William. CS1 maint, Uses authors parameter Alternative link Kirk, Malcolm, Miami Americas Casablanca – Israels War at Home Confronting a New Arab Challenge. Big Story, Big Screen, Two Miami Documentary Flimmakers Capture a Time and Place in Cocaine Cowboys

33.
Bubble (film)
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Bubble is a 2005 film directed by Steven Soderbergh. It was shot on high-definition video and it featured some unusual production aspects. In traditional terms, the movie has no script, all lines were improvised according to an outline written by screenwriter Coleman Hough, who previously teamed with Soderbergh on Full Frontal. Bubble was shot and edited by Soderbergh under the pseudonyms Peter Andrews, the film uses non-professional actors recruited from the Parkersburg, West Virginia / Belpre, Ohio area, where the film was shot. For example, the lead, Debbie Doebereiner, was working the drive-through window in a Parkersburg KFC. Bubble was released simultaneously in theaters and on the cable/satellite TV network HDNet Movies on January 27,2006. The DVD was released a few days later on January 31 and it was nominated for Best Director for Steven Soderbergh at the 2007 Independent Spirit Awards. Bubble is the first of six films Soderbergh planned to shoot, the score for the movie was composed by Robert Pollard, who lives in Ohio. The movie is about three people living along the Ohio River who are just able to make ends meet, the first character is Martha, a portly middle-aged woman seen getting ready for work and taking care of her elderly father. On the way to work at the factory, she picks up co-worker Kyle. Kyle is a tall and thin man who is intensely shy and very quiet. He is, as she him, her best friend. In order to demand, the doll factory hires Rose. Martha instantly notices a mutual attraction between Rose and Kyle, and begins to feel uneasy as Rose seems to single Kyle out, Rose irritates Martha by asking her for a ride to her second job, though Martha agrees to drive her. Rose later asks Martha if she would like to make a little money, as she has a date. Martha accepts but frames her response as if she is doing Rose the favor and it is not until Roses date arrives to pick her up that Martha learns that it is Kyle. Martha feels left out and embarrassed that they did not tell her earlier that they were planning to date, during the date Kyle and Rose share that they each dropped out of high school, Kyle because of having social anxiety disorder and Rose because she wanted to rebel. Later at Kyles house, Rose gets him to leave the room while she steals money from his hidden stash, when Kyle drops Rose off at home, he decides not to go inside with her because he felt a weird vibe from Martha earlier

34.
One Last Thing...
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One Last Thing. is a 2006 comedy-drama film produced by HDNet Films and released by Magnolia Pictures. It was screened at the Toronto Film Festival on September 12,2005 and had a release in the United States on May 5,2006. It was directed by Alex Steyermark and written by Barry Stringfellow, Dylan, a high school student with an inoperable brain tumor, lives with his widowed mother Carol in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania. He is invited on television by an organization and stuns viewers with his wish. Dylan is disappointed and decides to raise money and travel to New York, Carol struggles with allowing her sick son to be unsupervised in an unfamiliar city. Nikki has her own problems and is reluctant to speak to Dylan. Striking out and growing sicker, Dylan and his friends take a cab back to Pennsylvania, surprisingly, Nikki shows up and, at his request, takes Dylan to the beach. They spend the day together talking, fishing, and kissing, in the morning, Nikki discovers that Dylan has died. Nikki attends his funeral with friends and family, as he enters the afterlife, Dylan arrives on the beach to see his father, who died years before, fishing. He invites Dylan to join him, Dylan asks his father how he knows this is not a dream. His father replies, You dont, and you never will, One Last Thing. at the Internet Movie Database One Last Thing. at Rotten Tomatoes One Last Thing. at Box Office Mojo

35.
Jesus Camp
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According to the distributor, it doesnt come with any prepackaged point of view and attempts to be an honest and impartial depiction of one faction of the evangelical Christian community. Jesus Camp debuted at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival, and was sold by A&E Indie Films to Magnolia Pictures, Nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 79th Academy Awards, the film was met with controversy that led to the closure of the camp. The film focuses on three children who attended the camp in the summer of 2005—Levi, Rachael, and Tory, all three children are already very devout Christians. Levi has preached several sermons at his fathers church, Rock of Ages Church in St. Robert and he is homeschooled, his mother explaining that God did not give her a child just so he could be raised by someone else eight hours a day. He learns science from a book that attempts to reconcile creationism with scientific principles. Levi preaches a sermon at the camp in which he declares that his generation is key to bringing Jesus back. Rachael, who also attends Levis church, is seen praying over a ball during a game early in the film. She does not think highly of non-charismatic churches, feeling they are not churches that God likes to go to, Tory is a member of the Childrens Praise Dance Team at Christ Triumphant Church. She frequently dances to Christian heavy metal music, and says she has to herself to make sure she isnt dancing for the flesh. At the camp, Fischer stresses the need for children to purify themselves in order to be part of the army of God and she strongly believes that children need to be in the forefront of turning America toward conservative Christian values. She also feels that Christians need to focus on training kids since the enemy is focused on training theirs and she compares the preparation she is giving children with the training of terrorists in the Middle East. I want to see people who are as committed to the cause of Jesus Christ as the young people are to the cause of Islam. I want to see them radically laying down their lives for the gospel, as they are over in Pakistan and Israel and Palestine. In one scene shot at Christ Triumphant Church, a woman brings a life-sized cutout of George W. Bush to the front of the church and has the children stretch their hands toward him in prayer for him. This is a derivative of laying on of hands, a practice in charismatic Christian circles. In another scene, Lou Engle preaches a message urging children to join the fight to end abortion in America, children are shown a series of plastic models of developing fetuses, and have their mouths covered with red tape with Life written across it. He prays for Bush to have the strength to appoint righteous judges who will overturn Roe v. Wade, by the end of the sermon, the children are chanting, Righteous judges. There is also a scene at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, the scene was shot before the scandal following the revelation that Haggard had engaged in methamphetamine use and sexual relations with men

36.
Fay Grim
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Fay Grim is a 2006 Espionage thriller drama film written and directed by Hal Hartley. The film is a sequel to Hartleys 1997 film Henry Fool, and revolves around the character, played by Parker Posey. The plot revolves around Fays attempt to unravel an increasingly violent mystery in Europe, the film was shot almost entirely in Dutch angles, meaning the vast majority of shots are framed diagonally, or tilted. At the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, Hartley revealed that the two shots in the final cut that are not Dutched occurred when he and the film crew forgot to tilt the camera. Seven years after the events of Henry Fool, Fay Grim is coerced by a CIA agent to try to locate the confession novel notebooks that belonged to her husband whom he believes to be deceased. Fay is launched into a world of espionage as she travels to Paris to retrieve some of the journals, Simon Grim, Fays brother and Nobel Prize–winning poet because of Henry, remains home with his sisters son, the CIA and his publisher. Even in death it seems Henry is a force of nature causing life changing ructions in the lives of those he has touched. S, a former air-hostess befriends Fay and reveals she was similarly touched by Henry s chaotic influence and aid her in her efforts. Fays whirlwind culminates in a meeting with a notorious terrorist. The film won the Audience Choice Award at the RiverRun International Film Festival in 2007

37.
Ira & Abby
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Ira & Abby is a 2006 American romantic comedy film directed by Robert Cary and released in the United States by Magnolia Pictures. The poignant love story stars Chris Messina and Jennifer Westfeldt in the title roles, the film follows the story of Ira Black, a 33-year-old psychology Ph. D. candidate with therapist parents. Black has been in a relationship with Leah for the past nine years and is, as he confides to his therapist. It is implied that two have the same conversation every time Black comes to the office. His therapist then informs him that their 12 years of doctor-patient relationship must come to a close as therapy clearly isnt helping him, the therapist encourages Black to be spontaneous, finish his dissertation, and do things he wouldnt normally do. Ira goes to his cafe and struggles to order. After flip-flopping several times, he finally orders, while hes eating his meal, he looks across the street to see a gym and remembers that Leah found him overweight. After his meal, he goes to the gym and makes an appointment for a tour with the irritating receptionist, initially irritated with the long wait, Ira is soon struck by Abbys ability to be involved in other peoples lives. She seems to know everyone at the gym and be a source of advice. She gives Ira a terrible tour, but they hit it off. Through their conversation, Ira discovers that Abby lives with her parents who are musicians and she is a great believer in peoples goodness and always wants to help others. At the end of their conversation, she proposes marriage to Ira, after a bit though, he agrees and the two consummate their engagement in her office. At the end of the day, both Ira and Abby return home to tell their parents of their engagement, Iras parents are upset that its not Leah, and Abbys are extremely excited and begin to plan their daughters wedding right away. Later that night, Ira and Abby talk about their future, the two marry on the patio of Abbys familys brownstone in a small ceremony and spend the evening chatting inside. When they attempt to return to Iras apartment to enjoy their wedding night, desperate to enjoy each other, the two take the subway from a bad neighborhood. They are mugged at gunpoint on the way, and Abby steps up to face the mugger and offer him the money he needs, Ira is scared at first, and then proud of his new wife. Over the next weeks, Ira and Abby adjust to being married and they attend the movies and awkwardly run into Leah, which brings Iras worries about Abby to the front of his mind. At the same time, Iras mother and Abbys father begin to have an affair after Iras mother begins a voice-over career, when the families take a holiday picture, Ira learns that Abby was married twice before

38.
Diggers (2006 film)
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Diggers is a coming-of-age film directed by Katherine Dieckmann. It portrays four working-class friends who grow up in West Islip, on the South Shore of Long Island, New York and their fathers were clam diggers as well as their grandfathers before them. They must cope with and learn to face the changing times in both their lives and their neighborhood. The movie was written by actor Ken Marino, who also stars, a coming-of-age story about four working-class friends growing up on Long Island, New York, as clam diggers. Their fathers were clam diggers as well as their grandfathers before them, gina Diggers was released on April 27,2007 and premiered on HDNet on April 27, and was released on DVD on May 1. It was released much in the way as the 2005 film Bubble. DVD Talk review of Diggers Diggers at the Internet Movie Database